Caetano Reis e Sousa facts for kids

Caetano Reis e Sousa is a famous scientist from Portugal. He was born in 1968. He is a top researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London, England. His work helps us understand how our bodies fight off sickness.

Becoming a Scientist

Early Studies

Caetano Reis e Sousa started his education at Atlantic College in Wales. Then, he went to Imperial College London where he earned his first degree. He continued his studies at the University of Oxford.

Doctoral Research

In 1992, he earned his PhD from Oxford. His research focused on special cells called dendritic cells. These cells are like the "detectives" of our immune system. They help find and show harmful things, like germs, to other immune cells. He also studied how Langerhans cells, a type of dendritic cell, "eat" or take in antigens. Antigens are tiny parts of germs or other foreign substances that trigger an immune response.

His Work and Discoveries

Starting His Career

After finishing his PhD, Caetano Reis e Sousa worked in the United States. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In 1998, he moved back to the UK and joined the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF).

Leading Research

He became the head of the Immunobiology Laboratory. This lab later became part of the Francis Crick Institute in 2015. He also teaches at several universities. These include Imperial College London, King's College London, and University College London (UCL).

Understanding the Immune System

Dr. Reis e Sousa's main research is about how our bodies sense danger. This includes infections, cancer, and injuries. He has helped us learn how our immune system finds and reacts to things like RNA viruses (like the flu), fungi, and even dead cells in our own body. His work helps scientists develop new ways to fight diseases.

Awards and Recognition

Caetano Reis e Sousa has received many important awards for his scientific work. In 2019, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).

He is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). In 2009, the Government of Portugal recognized him with a special award called Officer of the Order of Sant'Iago da Espada. He also won the Liliane Bettencourt for Life Sciences Prize in 2008. In 2017, he received the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. He was also awarded the Bial Award in Biomedicine in 2019. These awards show how important his discoveries are in the field of medicine.